Next Steps

Happy Monday! It’s my favorite day of the week because another episode of the Monday Money Tip Podcast is LIVE! It’s a New Year and with that often comes new goals and resolutions. In this episode, we’re sharing some tips that could help you get off to a great start in 2020. In our Current Money Events segment, we’re updating you on banking stats, including mortgage rates, basic saving rates, and CD rates. Our success story today comes from Scott, who just became debt-free, including his house! In total, Scott paid-off $263,000!

Find more episodes of the Monday Money Tip Podcast HERE. Please let us know what you think by leaving us a rating!

MONDAY! My favorite day of the week because another episode of the Monday Money Tip Podcast is LIVE! In previous episodes, we’ve talked a lot about various rungs of the I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. Ladder. In this week’s episode, we’re going to walk through each rung and help you identify the next financial step you need to take. In our Current Money Events segment, we’re talking about what to do when you have a fear of investing. We’re also sharing a success story from Raquel, who is completely debt-free, including her home.

It’s our goal at the end of each episode that you gain hope and encouragement in your financial journey, you’re equipped to take the next step, and that you’ve had FUN with us!

Find the Monday Money Tip Podcast HERE. Please let us know what you think by leaving us a rating!

Many people look at 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card offers and wonder, “what’s the catch?” So let’s dive into this question.

QUESTION: Is the interest rate really 0%?
The answer is, “YES!” Many of these offers do, however, have a small transfer fee – usually around 3%.

Let’s use an example to see how this works.

Suppose you transfer a balance of $5,000 from a card that has a 21.99% interest rate. You apply for a 0% balance transfer credit card. This offer comes with a 3% balance transfer fee, but it also provides 0% for 18 months.

Upon acceptance of your application, the 3% balance transfer fee ($150) will be applied to your balance on the new credit account making your total balance owed equal $5,150 ($5,000 balance that was transferred PLUS the $150 balance transfer fee).

Now comes the good part! You now owe 0% interest for the 18 month period – as long as you make all of your payments on time, of course. Let’s see how this plays out while making $200/month payments – 21.99% credit card vs 0% balance credit card.

The I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. Team keeps a running list of 0% Balance Transfer offers HERE.

It’s no surprise that I’m not a huge fan of credit cards. This is mainly because, in the past, I ran up huge balances on them three separate times. As a financial teacher, I have seen a large amount of people entangled in credit card debt and paying huge interest charges. While this is not an ideal situation to be in, there is always HOPE and a way out! So how do you make credit debt disappear quicker? One way is 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards!

Here’s an example – I recently met a family that had several credit cards. They were paying 7.99% interest all the way up to 22.99% interest. We used the Actual Cost of Debt Calculator to calculate the amount of interest that was being paid each month. It was a ridiculously large number! So I encouraged them to apply for a 0% balance transfer credit card. This type of credit card would ensure that 100% of their payment would go towards reducing the principal. Guess what? They tried it and were approved and the balance was transferred to 0% for 12 months. In just fifteen minutes, they had reduced their interest fees by over $100/month. Over $100/month for fifteen minutes worth of effort is a pretty good paying job! That’s a savings of OVER $1,200 PER YEAR! Now they are working their way to 100% debt freedom even quicker!

Are you paying high interest on a credit card balance? If you are, why not roll over that debt to a 0% interest card so that 100% of your payments will go towards the balance owed? Having trouble finding a 0% balance transfer card? Just click HERE.

If you’ve already switched to a 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card, how much is it saving you every month?

I first wrote about Swagbucks back in November 2008 when I first signed up for the program. Swagbucks is a search engine just like Google, Ask, or Bing with one key exception – they PAY you to search!!! Every so often, they reward you with a Swagbuck (or Swagbucks) when you search. The Swagbuck is their own currency, and they can be redeemed for gift cards or merchandise.

I just redeemed my Swagbucks for another $20 Target gift card. So far, I have personally earned 389 Swagbucks! It takes 235 Swagbucks to obtain a $20 Target gift card. It is FREE money! YES!

Here is a great feature of this program. Once you register, you can refer your friends. For their first 100 Swagbucks, you can earn a matching Swagbuck!